Russian Hill is the stuff of which San Francisco legends are made. Snug stairways lead to homes by Willis Polk and Julia Morgan. Hyde Street is a shady nook with cable cars rumbling by. Jack Kerouac lived with Neal and Carolyn Cassidy at 29 Russell Place in 1952, and Armistead Maupin reimagined Macondray Lane as the anything-goes Barbary Lane in 1976.

Guess which of these three buildings is from 1963 (photo by John King).

It’s also a terrain of modern slab towers, startling juxtapositions that are all the more startling when you consider that no big buildings have been added since the 1960s. Instead, residents of the hill fought hard to stop anything tall from being added to the landscape after the initial wave — an effort that helped fuel the citywide antipathy to towers in the 1970s and 1980s.

That’s the theme of this week’s installment of my Hills of San Francisco series, located here. But before you go, consider this Herb Caen column from 1971 on two big towers proposed for the hill — arguments still heard today when allegedly disruptive projects come into view.

“It may be a little too heavy to say that San Francisco stands at the crossroads today. Again. It’s just that the crest of Russian Hill is in danger — again — and the chances are good (or bad, depending) that the manic-progressives will carry the day. Again. After all, how many times can you rally the troops?”